Self-Knowledge In and Out of Illness (Symposium, King’s College London, 3rd-4th May 2016)

Knowledge of oneself — skin, breasts, blood sugar, oxygen saturation, genetic profile, heart rate, weight, state of mind — plays an increasing role in health care as patients are encouraged to take charge of their own health. Self-knowledge can be useful, worthless, or even detrimental. How do we get self-knowledge? How do we learn to use it and what are the obstacles? We may use self-knowledge to avoid or treat illness, but can illness also teach us about ourselves?